SEC Coaches Aren’t High On Hogs

FAYETTEVILLE — The football coaches in the Southeastern Conference have spoken, and apparently they’re not too high on the Hogs, or at least the talent returning to Arkansas for the upcoming season.

Only three Razorbacks were named Monday to the 2008 SEC Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team, one more than Vanderbilt, which finished last in the league with just two of the top 81 players chosen.

The coaches voted unanimously that Arkansas senior Jonathan Luigs, who won the Rimington Award as the nation’s top center last season, belonged on the All-SEC first-team offense. But the Razorbacks weren’t represented much after that.

Offensive guard Mitch Petrus made the All-SEC second-team offense, and defensive end Antwain Robinson earned a spot on the third-team defense despite being listed as a backup on Arkansas’ post-spring depth chart.

“You really get up here and it kind of opens your eyes. You’re not the biggest fish in the pond anymore,” Luigs said following an offseason workout late last month. “Everybody is pretty similar.”

The SEC’s coaches had a much different opinion of the Razorbacks a year ago. Arkansas tied with LSU for the most players on the coaches’ 2007 All-SEC preseason team with 12, including Luigs, Robinson and star running back Darren McFadden.

Not surprisingly, Luigs was picked as one of the two Arkansas players who will accompany first-year coach Bobby Petrino to the SEC Media Days, which begin Wednesday in Hoover, Ala. Linebacker Elston Forte will also be there.

LSU again led the SEC with 14 players named to this year’s All-SEC team, followed by Florida with 10. Quarterback Tim Tebow, who beat out McFadden to win last year’s Heisman Trophy, highlights the group for the Gators.

While the Razorbacks weren’t represented much on the All-SEC team, a pair of Arkansas natives playing for other schools earned a spot on the list. Auburn offensive tackle Lee Ziemba, a Rogers High graduate, was named to the All-SEC’s second-team offense, along with LSU center Brett Helms of Stuttgart.